Brendan Allen is not booked against Khamzat Chimaev or Sean Strickland at UFC 328, but his recent Chimaev training rounds put him directly into the debate around the title fight.
Allen, who lost to Strickland by second-round TKO in a 195-pound catchweight bout in November 2020, recently trained with Chimaev and then told Submission Radio why Strickland’s takedown defense faces a different test against the champion. Strickland later fired back online, ripping Allen for training with Chimaev while still talking about title ambitions.
Chimaev is unbeaten at 15-0 and currently sits on top of the UFC middleweight division. Strickland is a former UFC middleweight champion with a 30-7 record, and Allen is a ranked contender at 26-7. The matchup has already drawn plenty of outside opinion, including Joe Rogan arguing Strickland has a real chance and Robert Whittaker saying Chimaev could run over him.
Allen called Strickland experienced, awkward, tricky, and hard to count out. After sharing training rounds with Chimaev, he said the champion’s grappling is not the kind of problem a fighter solves in one camp.
“I think he’s maybe a little bit more polished, but still his right hand still is never straight,” Allen said of Strickland. “His jab’s still pretty good and it starts off really good, accurate. He still leans the same way. He still moves the same way. Maybe checks more kicks in some positions. He’s still the same guy, you know, but he’s a vet.”
Allen said Strickland has “some little weird positions” and “little tricks,” while Chimaev’s pressure stood out from their training rounds.
“I think that Khamzat that I was with and trained with and was around, I think that guy, that Khamzat is a special guy,” Allen said. “He’s very, very well-rounded. I think people just don’t think his standup’s that good because his wrestling and his ground game is so elite. But he has a good striking game, too.”
Allen said Chimaev’s approach is built around breaking opponents once the fight gets uncomfortable.
“I think that ferocity he brings in, that fierceness, that vicious killer instinct, that he’s trying to basically make you quit,” Allen said. “He wants to make you quit.”
Watch Allen’s full Submission Radio interview below:
Allen Says Chimaev’s Grappling Is Not Like Anthony Hernandez’s
Strickland’s takedown defense became a talking point because of his work against Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez. Allen, who has faced Hernandez twice, rejected the comparison to Chimaev’s grappling.
“Fluffy takedowns and Khamzat’s takedowns is two totally different worlds,” Allen said. “Fluffy is a guy that just wants to get to your waist and then go to your back and then he tries to ride there in a top turtle position. If Khamzat gets a top turtle position, f*** you ain’t getting up. You ain’t getting up. I’m telling you, you ain’t getting up. Sorry, you’re not.”
Allen said the difference is not only the shot. It is the pressure after the takedown, the damage when a fighter tries to build back up, and the way Chimaev stays ahead of the next movement.
“It’s two different worlds,” Allen said. “It’s two different styles. It’s two different universes. I’m just being honest. I’ve been in there with Fluffy twice. I’ve felt his. I’ve felt Khamzat’s. I’m just being honest. It’s two totally different worlds.”
Allen also pointed to Chimaev’s top control as a system, not just a strength advantage. Strickland’s best nights often come when he can keep the fight standing, walk opponents down, and build behind his jab.
“The pressure, the variables or options that they both create, the knowledge of the position as far as where your opponent’s going to go and being a step ahead,” Allen said. “Hamza, like you can’t, and if you do, you’re getting punched in the face, brought back down. He has an amazing system.”
That is where Allen pushed back hardest on the one-camp fix. He said Chimaev’s grappling took years to build, and opponents cannot copy enough answers in a normal eight-to-12-week preparation window.
“It took years for Khamzat to master what he’s mastered,” Allen said. “It took so many trials and errors, so many reviews with his coaches, so many tape studies from different people, like all those through different people and probably hundreds of different people for him to master it, to feel a position, to know where to go, to know where his weight needs to be so this doesn’t happen or so that doesn’t happen.”
Allen added, “You’re not going to catch it in eight weeks, 10 weeks, 12 weeks. Nobody in the whole world can.”
He said defending Chimaev requires more than toughness or effort.
“With Khamzat, you need consistency, effort, and knowledge,” Allen said. “Without the knowledge, it’s not going nowhere.”
Allen still would not call the fight a guaranteed blowout. Strickland is experienced and has already proved he can win at the highest level.
“To be honest, man, I never count Sean out,” Allen said. “He’s such a vet that I don’t expect him to just get totally dominated. You know what I mean? Like as far as where there’s zero. It’s super lopsided. I want to say that that’s what’s going to happen, but it’s a fight and he’s a vet and he is tricky. He is awkward.”
Allen believes Chimaev’s team will still build around Chimaev first instead of overreacting to Strickland’s habits.
“If you know Khamzat, his team, you would know that he don’t care for none of that,” Allen said. “They don’t practice for Sean. They don’t practice for Robert. They don’t practice specifically for that guy. They are so good at focusing their focus on what got them there.”
Allen said Chimaev’s fight identity is exactly what Chimaev says it is.
“Khamzat’s worried about being the best Khamzat he can be,” Allen said. “He’s worried about dominating. He’s worried about exactly what he says he’s worried about, smashing.”
Allen was also asked about rumors of Chimaev eventually moving to light heavyweight. He said Chimaev’s pressure would translate because he did not feel it as simple brute strength.
“For me, he’s more technical,” Allen said. “His pressure, he doesn’t use strength. I never felt him use strength. His pressure is solid. It’s fine to be up there. I’ve trained with 205ers. His pressure is top-notch, man.”
Sean Strickland Fires Back At Brendan Allen Over Chimaev Training
Strickland answered Allen’s breakdown in a clip posted on X. He ripped Allen for training with Chimaev while still chasing a title shot in the same division.
“Brendan Allen, you are the definition of a c*nt,” Strickland said. “Let me tell you Brendan Allen why you’re such a dumb f*cking c*nt. To say you’re a dumb f*cking c*nt is a compliment. You are ranked 5. My boy [Edmen Shahbazyan is] about to beat you, Edmen’s about to beat you. You are ranked No. 5, you were talking about a title fight and you go and you train with the current champion and the whole world just watched him f*ck you up over and over and over and over and over again.
“All we know of your training camp is you’re getting your ass kicked by f*cking Chimaev. You will never fight for a belt. You are a f*cking r*tard. If you want to get some advice from me you f*cking r*tard, stop training with the champion and if you’re going to train with him, don’t let him beat the f*ck out of you for f*cking weeks at a time you f*cking idiot.”
Here is Strickland’s response via FULL SEND MMA:
Sean Strickland continues to GO OFF on Brendan Allen 😳
“Let me tell you Brendan Allen why you are such a dumb f*****g c**t. You talk about a title fight but train with the champ and let him f**k you up over and over. Stop letting him beat the f**k out of you, you f*****g idiot” pic.twitter.com/5cn9CCTR39
— FULL SEND MMA (@full_send_mma) May 5, 2026
Allen said he was not sure why Strickland came at him that way.
“I don’t even know where it came from, to be honest with you,” Allen said. “He’s always talking about dudes getting f***ed and stuff. It’s weird.”
Allen said he wanted the Strickland rematch before Strickland was booked against Chimaev. He also made it clear the 2020 loss is not how he sees a second fight going.
“I’m down to fight though,” Allen said. “I can tell you that. I was hoping that that’s the one that I would get this time. I was excited to run that one back for sure and it didn’t happen. But who knows? Maybe one day I’ll get that opportunity to go on and rewrite that.”
Allen said, “Everyone talks about him catching me and TKO me. What was that, six years ago or whatever? I was 24. I’m 30 now. Let’s see how it fares now. I think he got lucky that night. I made a stupid error and he got it. It happened. But I still think nine times out of 10 I beat him there.”
Then Allen gave his own rematch prediction.
“I’m a different monster,” Allen said. “I don’t think he makes it out of three rounds with me now.”
Allen also said he does not want outside drama around his family and would rather keep fight talk from spilling into real-life problems.
“Just let me be,” Allen said. “Let a sleeping dog lie. I don’t want to go out of my body for nothing. I don’t want to get into no issues. I don’t want nobody talking s*** to me when I go out. Just let me be.”
Allen said, “I just want to be left alone. Because if not, then I don’t know where it’s going to go and I don’t want it to go that way. I don’t want to endanger any other people that could be around. I don’t want to put my kids in that situation. I don’t put my wife in that situation.”
Allen also said a future press conference with Strickland would get ugly fast.
“Sean’s that kind of guy,” Allen said. “If it, I kill him in press conference, so I make him freak out for sure.”
Allen added, “When you open up with words, I’m trying to kill you with those words. I’m trying to make you eat everything.”
Allen still wants the Strickland rematch if it comes back around. Strickland has Chimaev in front of him at UFC 328, and Allen’s read is that the champion’s pressure, top control, and positional knowledge are much harder to handle than standard takedown defense drills.
